This application relates generally to sport training equipment, and more specifically, to training equipment that allows an athlete to move an exercise bar freely in two dimensions. In particular, this application describes sports training equipment that can also be used for performance testing in various training regimes and body zones of an athlete because the resistance to the movements of an athlete is variable according to predetermined programs.
Existing sport training equipment is suitable for training in specific areas. Typically, sports training equipment is dedicated to particular exercises, such as leg exercises by squats, or chest exercises by pushing against resistance with the arms. Common to all the equipment used today (with exception of equipment using cables) is that the user moves a bar or handle in either a straight line or along the perimeter of a circle.
Different exercises need different degrees of freedom in the movement. Take as an example an exercise like weight lifting. The path of movement of the athlete""s hands is not necessarily along a linear or circular path.
For an exercise such as an arm curl, a machine with a one dimensional movement of the bar would not be appropriate. The invention described in this application allows the athlete executing arm curls to move the bar along the same path as when he uses free bar bells.
It is important, especially in professional sports training, that an athlete""s strength and range of motion be capable of reliable measurement, so that his performance may be compared with his past performance or the performance of others. This implies that the load or resistance against which the athlete is working be variable, so that all variables but one can be controlled and measured. These variables include displacement of the exercise bar, speed of movement, acceleration, and the force exerted by the athlete. The power generated and the energy expended during the exercise may also be relevant to particular sports training programs.
There is thus a need for an exercise apparatus that allows free movement of the athlete""s body during an exercise, allows for the execution of different exercises without substantial changes in the configuration of the apparatus, and which allows for valid and reliable measurement of the parameters of the exercise.
The preferred embodiment of the exercise apparatus comprises two substantially parallel pantograph trusses. Each pantograph truss further comprises a plurality of beams and a plurality of pivots; the beams being moveably connected at the pivots. At least two congruent pivots have a central bore for receiving an exercise bar through the bore.
There is at least one exercise bar moveably mounted between congruent pivot of the pantograph trusses, for transmitting to the pantograph trusses a force applied by a user to the exercise bar. At least one stabilizer bar is mounted between two other congruent pivots of the pantograph trusses.
The apparatus has two substantially parallel rails; each of the rails has traveling thereon linear bearings. The linear bearings moveably support the pantograph trusses.
The apparatus preferably has at least one vertical actuator connected between a two vertically opposing pivots of the pantograph truss; or, a vertical actuator connected between a pivot and the corresponding rail, and at least one horizontal actuator, connected between two pivots of a pantograph truss. The horizontal actuator may be replaced by a spring system that keeps the pantograph trusses centered between the two ends of each rail.
The apparatus has a load control system, such that the vertical and horizontal actuators are responsive to the active load control system. There is a means for measuring the displacement of the exercise bar; the means for measuring the displacement of the exercise bar being operatively connected to the load control system. The load control system includes a programmable computer, which is programmed to accept inputs from displacement and pressure transducers attached to the pantograph trusses and the actuators. The programmed computer computes a load program according to values entered by a user and controls valves connected to the actuators to maintain the speed and displacement of the exercise bar within the pre-determined limits. In different embodiments, the actuators may be hydraulic or pneumatic, or some combination of hydraulic or pneumatic actuators, or electric motors.